The New Chastity. By Midge Decter. First Edition, First Printing. Coward, McCann, Geoghegan. New York, 1972.

Midge Decter was a magazine editor and cultural critic who became a preeminent voice in the neoconservative movement of the mid-twentieth century. Bigots adored her for her anti-feminist critiques. She became a widely cited author in arguments against women’s liberation. This volume, The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women’s Liberation, was one of her most widely discussed works. It outlines what are essentially the same tired arguments that manosphere influencers propound today: that women would be happier without feminist ideologies, that feminism is to blame for cultural woes, that the women’s liberation movement harmed women by giving them too many choices, too much freedom, and that they would be better off embracing traditional gender roles. It was a popular argument in the 1970s when women were first enjoying basic freedoms like having bank accounts and careers. Sadly, these arguments remain popular among certain circles, but by revisiting Decter, it becomes clear that their logic has not changed at all. They have come up with nothing new over the course of a century. Their arguments remain couched in a neoconservative and patriarchal ideology that prefers oppression over freedom.

This first edition, first printing is in very good condition. In the original quarter cloth, about-fine with only foxing and bumping to spine. Text block fine. In the original dust jacket, very good with rubbing, bumping, and creases.

A very good first edition of The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women’s Liberation.